Published by PSCD Games of Russia in 2020, Alien Cat 2 is an addictive top‑down puzzle game. The version I played was for the Sega Mega Drive via the Evercade, but versions have been released for a number of different platforms, including retro systems like the NES and SNES.
This reminds me of those multi‑platform releases of the 80s and 90s and reiterates that these systems are not dead systems. At the time of writing, around 60 projects are in development for Sega’s 16‑bit hardware.
On to Alien Cat. There is a plot involving collecting all the parts of your spaceship, but it’s largely irrelevant. You just have to navigate the top‑down maze, collect the keys, and exit through the portal. Easy, right? Well… no.
After a few easy levels to test the waters, you suddenly have two cats on the screen. Move once and both cats move. Which is fine until there are big spikes next to the other one. You can use the maze to push the cats closer together or further apart.
I used Evercade save states, but there is a password system if you happen to need to leave your game on real hardware.
This is exactly the kind of game you end up sinking more time into than intended, then you realise you completed it in one sitting. It’s not particularly big‑budget or flashy — for a game that pushes the Mega Drive, see Tanglewood. But it’s an enjoyable, short‑but‑sweet puzzle game.